The Montgomery County Council is hosting a public hearing Tuesday on proposed legislation that would impose harsher penalties on unlicensed commercial parties held at private residences and other venues.
Last year, unlicensed commercial parties caught the attention of local lawmakers after residents complained about several pool parties held without permits at mansions in the county. Some of these events involved the unlicensed sale of alcohol, hookah and marijuana.
At one event held over Memorial Day weekend, public safety officials estimated that about 1,000 people attended a “Wet Dreams” pool party at a Potomac residence, creating parking chaos in the neighborhood.
Councilmembers will also interview candidates for a seat on the Montgomery County Planning Board and hear from the public about a proposal from County Executive Marc Elrich (D) that would create a development district in White Oak.
The council will meet at 9 a.m. in the Stella Werner Council Office Building in Rockville for its regular weekly business meeting after a two-week recess. Here’s what to expect:
Public hearing on penalties for unlicensed parties
The council will hear from the public on a bill that aims to crack down on illegal festivities in county neighborhoods by applying stricter regulations and increasing fines for commercial events held at private residences and other venues.
The legislation, sponsored by councilmembers Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) and Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7), would impose greater penalties on commercial parties that are unlicensed and unpermitted.
The bill would “prohibit an unlicensed party for gain or profit to which the general public is admitted with certain exceptions,” and would establish a penalty for unlicensed parties that are being run for profit, according to the council staff report.
The proposed penalty would be a fine of up to $5,000. The penalty is currently $500, which Luedtke said has not deterred unlicensed party organizers that find the events to be financially lucrative enough to justify the penalty.
Planning Board interviews
The council will interview three candidates for a four year term on the county’s Planning Board. The candidates for a four-year term are sitting board commissioner Mitra Pedoeem and applicants Brandice N. Elliott and John Schlichting.
Pedoeem is seeking appointment to a full term on the board. She has served since March 2023, fulfilling a partial term following the resignation of the entire five-member Planning Board in 2022. Her background includes a stint as director of the county’s Department of Permitting Services and serving various roles in the county’s planning and parks departments since 2004, according to her resume. Her current term is expiring.
Elliott is an urban planner with more than 20 years of experience, according to her resumé. She currently serves as the director of planning services at Holland & Knight LLP in Washington, D.C.
Schlichting was the director of planning and code administration for the city of Gaithersburg from 2012 and 2024, after working 27 years as a real estate developer in Washington, D.C.
According to county law, board members must live in the county and be registered to vote as a member of any political party or unaffiliated with any political party. No more than three members of the Planning Board may be from the same political party. Members generally serve four-year terms and are limited to two full terms.
Pedoeem is registered as an independent voter and Elliott and Schlichting are registered as Democrats. Currently, the other board members are Chair Artie Harris, a Democrat; James Hedrick, a Democrat; Josh Linden, an unaffiliated voter; and Shawn Bartley, a Republican.
The salary for Planning Board members is $30,000. It is considered a part-time role.
White Oak development district proposal
The council will hear from the public on Elrich’s proposal to create a development district in the White Oak neighborhood of Silver Spring.
The legislation would allow the county to enter into its first-ever tax increment financing plan with a private company to fund the $2.8 billion Viva White Oak redevelopment project.
Viva White Oak — once named LifeSci Village — is a planned community near the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s White Oak campus and Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center. Located on 280 acres of land, the development will include up to 12.1 million square feet of commercial, residential, retail and public space. According to a May county news release, he development is expected to generate 17,000 construction jobs, 9,000 permanent jobs and an estimated $62 million in annual county revenue once completed.
Nearly 5,000 homes, including apartments, are expected to be built, along with new retail, hotel, and medical office space, according to the release. The plan also “reserves land for a new elementary school, active parks, bike lanes, and community trails, all while protecting more than 18 acres through forest conservation.”
If approved by the council, the public-private partnership with Baltimore-based MCB Real Estate will allow the county to use tax increment financing to subsidize the project. According to a May news release from the county, local governments are able to use this type of funding mechanism “to pledge future property tax revenues from within the project area to fund core public infrastructure such as roads, utilities, and open space, without impacting existing County resources or services.”
